Author: Tigranian Ani

AZERBAIJAN: PRESIDENT, ALL-OUT OFFENSIVE AGAINST ARMENIA

Agenzia Giornalistica Italia
Oct 13, 2008
Italy

(AGI) – Baku, Oct 13 – Two days before the presidential elections in
Azerbaijan, the leaving leader of State Ilham Aliyev launched a hard
verbal attack against eternal enemy Armenia, against which the former
Soviet Republic in the ’90s fought a bloody conflict for the control
of Nagorno Karabakh, the enclave with an Armenian majority, lost by
Baku in ’91. "As long as our territory remains occupied, we carry
out politics of all-out offensive against Armenia, on a political,
economic, military and logistic level" said Aliyev during a rally,
receiving a warm applause from his fellow countrymen. The two countries
signed a cease-fire in ’94 but have frozen diplomatic and commercial
relations since then, awaiting a decision on the disputed area on an
international level. The Azeri president is the son of Heydar Aliyev,
already in office in the Soviet era and died in 2003. He is favourite
in Wednesday’s elections, since the opposition forces have opted for
a boycott.

The FINANCIAL, Georgia

Georgian PM Visits U.S.

11/10/2008 13:40
The FINANCIAL — According to Civil Georgia, Georgian Prime Minister
Lado Gurgenidze and Finance Minister Nika Gilauri left for the United
States on October 11 to discuss the current economic situation in
Georgia with U.S. officials.

The Georgian officials will hold talks with the representatives of the
World Bank, International Monetary Fund, European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development, as well as with Under Secretary for
Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs Reuben Jeffery.

During the visit Lado Gurgenidze will also meet with his Armenian
counterpart Tigran Sarkisyan, according to the government’s press
office.

FALSE ALARM

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
10 Oct 2008
Armenia

No Bomb Found In The Plane

The press service of "Kurumoch" airport in Samara reports, on Wednesday
they received an anonymous message on tableau "02" that there is an
explosive on A-320 plane belonging to "Armavia", arriving from Yerevan.

At around 10.00 p.m. the plane landed and after the check-up conducted
by the security service of the airport no bomb has been found. There
were 156 passengers and 8 staff members in the plane.

Yesterday the plane returned to Yerevan.

TURKISH FM DISCUSSES ECONOMY, ENERGY WITH AZERI, ARMENIAN COUNTERPARTS

Anatolia News Agency
Sept 27 2008
Turkey

New York, 27 September: The Turkish foreign minister had a trilateral
meeting with his Armenian counterpart and Azerbaijani counterpart in
New York on Friday [26 September].

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Armenian Foreign Minister
Edvard Nalbandyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov
discussed possible steps that could be taken in economy, culture,
politics, energy, transportation, infrastructural projects and
communication.

In the meeting, the tree foreign ministers expressed their view that
solution of problems could bring a new momentum to the region.

Babacan is actually in New York for the 63rd session of the United
Nations (UN) General Assembly.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Babacan had talks with British
Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs David Miliband,
and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Babacan asked
his counterparts to encourage the Greek Cypriots for the settlement
of Cyprus problem.

Babacan told Miliband that Turkey was not satisfied with the speed
of its European Union (EU) accession negotiations, and that Turkey’s
goal was full membership.

The Turkish foreign ministers also participated in the annual
coordination meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference
and the meeting of Friends of Pakistan Group at the UN headquarters.

On Thursday, Babacan had talks with foreign ministers of Burundi,
Gabon, Tuvalu, Finland, Belgium, Hungary, Malta, Jordan and Tunisia.

HYDROCHLORIC ACID LEAKAGE

A1+
[01:33 pm] 10 October, 2008

Hydrochloric acid leakage was reported near the nuclear power station
of Armenia at 12.25, October 10.

The leakage of 200-250-litre hydrochloric acid was caused by a tank
truck overturn.

According to the tentative data the leakage didn’t cause any ecological
problems.

KOSOVO’S INDEPENDENCE DECLARATION TO BE REFERRED INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.10.2008 13:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The UN General Assembly has voted to refer Kosovo’s
independence declaration to the International Court of Justice. The ICJ
will be asked to give an advisory, non-binding opinion on the legality
of Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia in February.

Seventy-seven countries voted in favor, six against and 74 abstained.

Serbia and Russia say Kosovo acted illegally. But nearly 50 countries
– including the U.S. and most of the EU – have recognized it as
independent. Serbia argued that asking the ICJ to give its opinion
would actually reduce tensions and promote reconciliation.

Many countries who voted in favor said this was not a political
decision but a legal one, and every state had a right to ask the court
for an opinion. But the large number of abstentions shows that other
countries saw this as highly political.

For the 48 countries which have recognized Kosovo but support the
court this was a tricky vote, she says. The U.S. voted against,
calling this an unnecessary and unhelpful move.

Most EU countries abstained – Britain called Serbia’s request
primarily political. But the EU was split, with Romania, Slovakia,
Spain, Greece and Cyprus voting in favor. They all said international
law should be respected.

It could take up to two years for the court to issue its opinion,
BBC reports.

ARMENIA EMPHASIZES THE DEVELOPMENT OF MULTIFACETED TIES WITH SWITZERLAND

armradio.am
08.10.2008 17:12

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan today received the Members of
the Switzerland-Armenia parliamentary group of the Federal Assembly
of the Swiss Confederation headed by Christine Egerszegi-Obrist.

The President emphasized the importance of the development of
multifaceted ties with Switzerland and noted with appreciation that
a rather interesting agenda of bilateral cooperation has been formed
over the past years.

According to Serzh Sargsyan, the establishment of the diplomatic
representation of Switzerland will become an important step for the
further reinforcement of collaboration.

"We aim at European values, and our objective is to have Armenia become
a contemporary, powerful country, where the citizen will feel safe and
protected," the President underscored. He attached special importance
to the role of parliamentary ties in the development of Armenian-Swiss
cooperation and expressed gratitude for the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide by the National Assembly of Switzerland in 2003.

The Head of the Switzerland-Armenia parliamentary group noted that
the two peoples are carriers of a similar culture, the two countries
have nearly the same relief, are not rich in natural resources,
have no access to the sea, but have beliefs, capabilities and
knowledge. According to the Swiss Deputy, "the recognition of the
Armenian G enocide became a unique starting point, which originated
from the past and is targeted towards future."

President Sargsyan welcomed Switzerland’s balanced position on sensible
issues of our country. Regarding the Karabakh issue, he said: "Our
objective is to reach the peaceful resolution of the issue based on
mutual concessions, taking into consideration the historical realities,
and primarily, the future of people."

Turning to Armenian-Turkish relations, the President once again stated
that the Armenian side is ready to establish relations with Turkey
without preconditions, and afterwards discuss the existing issues.

The interlocutors dwelt on Armenian-Swiss programs implemented in
different spheres.

ARMENIAN PREMIER TO TRAVEL TO WASHINGTON FOR WB AND IMF FORUM

ARKA
Oct 7, 2008

YEREVAN, October 7. /ARKA/. Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
is to fly to Washington on Thursday to attend an annual forum of
World Bank and International Monetary Fund, governmental press
office reports.

Economy Minister Nerses Yeritsyan, Finance Minister Tigran Davtyan,
Presidential Adviser on Economic Issues Vahram Nersisyants, Head of
Government’s Staff David Sargsyan, Chairman of the Central Bank of
Armenia Arthur Javadyan, Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosyan,
Armenian Ambassador to the United States Tatul Margaryan and other
officials will attend the forum as well.

The delegation headed by the premier will return on October 15.

TIGRAN TOROSYAN DID HIS BEST TO BUILD THE STATE AND REPUBLICAN PARTY OF ARMENIA, AN RPA MEMBER SAYS

ArmInfo
2008-10-03 18:03:00

ArmInfo. Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly Hovik Abrahamyan
managed to get accustomed to the post of the parliament’s speaker
during the latest four-day session, this inspires joy and confidence,
Vazgen Karakhanyan, a representative of the faction of the Republican
Party of Armenia, told ArmInfo correspondent.

Karakhanyan said that it is difficult to talk about the results of
the activity of Abrahamyan as Speaker: "A man is assessed by his
work, so it remains to be seen", the MP said. Touching upon Tigran
Torosyan’s recent resignation as Speaker, Karakhanyan stressed that
Tigran Torosyan did his best to build the state and the Republican
Party of Armenia and added that he maintains friendly relations with
Torosyan. "It’s a pity that Torosyan left the ranks of the party. I
had been persuading him for a long time not to do this as a political
party is not a structure of personalities but a unity of ideological
thoughts", Karakhanyan stressed. "I don’t think that all members of
the RPA carry the party’s high ideology. But if there are come-and-go
people in the RPA they may have reflection on our party", he said.

KARABAKH SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED AS PARTY TO CONFLICT

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.10.2008 17:31 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Format of the negotiation process is an important
constituent of resolution of any conflict, since it reflects
the balance of forces in the given region, said a Karabakhs-based
political scientist.

"The OSCE Minsk Group has evolved during the years of its
existence. However, some permanent MG member states do not have tools
of influence in the region. Meanwhile, a country like Iran is not
represented. The main gap in the Minsk format is that participation
of Nagorno Karabakh has been frozen for over 10 years already," David
Babayan wrote in "Perspectives of the Nagorno Karabakh process in
the light of recent geopolitical transformations" article obtained
by PanARMENIAN.Net.

"Nevertheless, the MG format has not been exhausted yet. Peace in
the conflict zone is maintained by the Minsk Group," he wrote.

Global developments will affect the Karabakh process and its format,
according to Babayan.

"There will be new initiatives, like the Iranian one. However,
Karabakh should be recognized as a party to conflict," he wrote.